Finalizing the Run with Amplicons in Your Negative Control?

Contamination seems to be the bane of Life Science. There is no field of interest in biology where you can simply ignore discussions and taking action steps against contamination. At times, it is as simple as being mindful of everything we do and use – such as proper cleaning, handling, clothing, and using good consumables. However, for pioneers who set up labs from scratch – be it in academia or a new start-up company – good lab practice starts from designing proper workspaces for people to work and clean every day.

This is especially true for workflows that involve amplification such as PCR, since anything small – including miniscule amount of contaminated source – will get amplified a million times. No matter how good you are at everyday lab practices, it only takes one instance of cross-contamination to mess everything up, which can subsequently lead to major waste of resources to find, solve and eliminate future incidents. Hence, it is always a good idea to take preventive step from the beginning. One way to minimize cross-contamination in PCR from early on is to be able to dedicate different work functions to different areas. In other words, you perform each main function in a separate room. This helps to minimize aerosol contamination from one place to another as you move along the experimental workflow.